Again and again Yasser Arafat has been chided for not reining in the young Palestinians who pit their pathetic rocks and small-bore weapons against Israel's military might. But not a word of protest is heard over the likely inclusion in the government of Ehud Barak of Ariel Sharon, the man who started it all.

Sharon, you may remember, is the general who was found responsible for the massacre of a lot of women and little children at Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon in 1982. Now he bears the distinction of reigniting the violence between Israel and the Palestinians by a single inflammatory act: visiting the Al Aksa mosque (accompanied by a thousand armed policemen), one of Islam's holy sites in East Jerusalem. Sharon is an enemy of the peace process, and now is asking for veto power in a Barak government as the price of saving it.

Has it occurred to any of the leaders now taking the easy route by chiding Arafat that he might not be able to stop the new intifada if he tried? That to try might be the final sign to his sullen followers that he had finally sold out? That Arafat is the West's best hope for peace?

Where is the pressure on Barak? Where, indeed, is the pressure on Israel itself? And where else in the world would the United States tolerate a society that so egregiously trampled the rights of one ethnic group, a group long displaced, disenfranchised and marginalized?

Why does Israel's dependence on American largess never enter public debate? This tiny country receives by far the biggest chunk of U.S. foreign aid, nearly three times the amount we give to Africa outside of Egypt. Is this not crazy?

You know the answer as well as I do. American politicians see Israel as a sacred trust, protected by a vociferous lobby. And much of the ugliness in Israel originates here, in fanatical groups that foster a racism as ugly as any the planet has seen, an anti-Arab ideology that preaches hate. The guys who shoot Muslims at prayer, and who see the claims of people forcibly removed from their homes as irrelevant, learn their lessons in Brooklyn.

Perhaps one of the most useful books on the subject of Judaism in America came out recently. Written by Sam Freedman, a patient and clear-sighted American Jew, "Jew vs. Jew: The Struggle for the Soul of American Jewry" outlines the enormous diversity and dissension among Jews today, and shows that modern Judaism is no longer monolithic but varied and highly contentious. Israel itself is a country deeply divided and filled with hard emotions. Freeman talks of orthodox Jews physically attacking conservative ones at prayer. He opens up a subject long taboo, and speaks a truth long unspoken: that not all Jews are Zionists, or even share the same values.

That's why it's so upsetting to see Barak making deals with Sharon, who represents Zionist intolerance at its worst. That's why this time is so dangerous, with American lawmakers voting to gag any United Nations resolution condemning Israeli actions against unarmed Palestinians.

Yet the voice of American policy is still often determined by a monolithic view of American Jews' politics. That's why the Arab world does not see Americans as honest brokers in this conflict. That's also why it's such an act of naked courage every time Yasser Arafat sets foot on American soil.

The Clinton Administration had the foresight to understand this principle when it came to dealing with the violence in Northern Ireland. While condemning the violence of the Irish Republican Army, President Clinton's advisers knew well what a huge risk Gerry Adams took simply in participating in the peace process, how close he came to losing the confidence of his militant followers. This is an even more acute problem with Arafat, since (unlike Adams) he lacks any powerful constituency inside the United States.

Terrorism is an awful and scary thing. It is also the last resort of people who don't have access to more sophisticated forms of power -- or any hope that peaceful negotiation will bring them a better life.

If America is to take a truly responsible position in the Middle East, perhaps it's time for people like me to speak up: Americans of Jewish heritage who quail at American blindness to the sins of modern Israel.

© Copyright 2000, The News & Observer

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